19 Extinct Species Found ALIVE !

From bizarre flightless birds, to some ancient turtles, these are 19 EXTINCT Species Found ALIVE !!!

10.Lord Howe Island Stick Insect -- It’s considered the rarest insect in the world, and they were thought to be extinct since 1920. It was rediscovered in 2001 on a small islet of Ball’s Pyramid. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it’s the tallest and most isolated sea stack in the world. Less than 30 individuals were located living underneath a single shrub there. Did you know this Stick Insect can grow to 15 centimeters long? That’s why they’re sometimes referred to as “tree lobsters”!

9.La Gomera (go-merra) Giant Lizard -- This animal is considered a true lizard … and in these photos from Jaime A. de Urioste (day’oo-ree-os-tay) you can see the white coloration around its throat in contrast to blackish-blue coloration of its body … and you can also get a sense of its size as it lays on the brown dirt, or rests upon a reddish boulder … They can grow to half a meter long. This species is native to La Gomera go-merra), one of the Canary Islands ... and were thought to have gone extinct by 1985. But Spanish biologists found six living individuals in 1999. Today, the creatures are listed as critically endangered.

8.Madagascan Serpent Eagle -- as its name would suggest, this medium-sized raptor is indigenous to the island of Madagascar. It has a wingspan up to 110 centimeters, and measures up to 66 centimeters long. After its last confirmed sighting in 1930, this bird of prey was thought to be extinct … but it was rediscovered in 1993!

7.Bermuda Petrel (peh-trul) -- These creatures were last seen in the 1620s, and were believed to be extinct for more than three centuries. But in 1951, 18 nesting pairs of the birds were discovered on isolated rocky islets in Castle Harbor. The Petrels have a global population of around 250 individuals … meaning they still face extinction today.

6.La Palma Giant Lizard -- This creature was thought to have been extinct for five centuries before being rediscovered in 2007 … and some sources STILL list the animal as extinct! The lone individual located was around 4 years old and measured about a foot long. Expeditions to the Canary Island’s La Palma region are being planned to search for a breeding population.

5.Caspian Horse -- This breed of small horse is native to Northern Iran … and is thought to be one of the oldest horse breeds in the world … with remains found that date back to 3400 BC! Its original height is estimated at 36 to 46 inches (91 to 117 cm). The little equines seemed to vanish from history after 700 AD, and were presumed extinct. But the animals were rediscovered in 1965 in Iran … and seemed to have survived relatively unaltered.

4.Monito del Monte -- Until one of these tiny marsupials was discovered in the southern Andes of Chile, they were thought to have been extinct for 11 million years. It’s likely related to the earliest Australian marsupial which lived some 55 million years ago.

3.Laotian (la ocean) Rock Rat -- This species was first discovered for sale at a meat market in Laos (louse). It was placed in its own family because it was considered so distinct and unusual from other living rodents. But that was just the beginning … after a systematic re-analysis in 2006, the animal was reclassified. It turns out the unique rodent belonged to an ancient family of fossils believed to have gone extinct some 11 million years ago! Researchers have discovered additional specimens, suggesting the rock rat may not be as rare as originally thought.

2.Gracilidris (grah-sill-ih-dris) -- After considered extinct for some 20 million years, it was rediscovered and described in 2006. These ants have been found in Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. Very little is known about them, but they do exhibit nocturnal behavior and nest in small colonies in the soil. A single existing fossil in amber from the Dominican Republic qualifies this creature as a Lazarus Taxon (tax-ON), not unlike the Coelacanth (seela-kenth).

1.And speaking of the Coelacanth (seela-kenth) -- This creature was thought to have gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period, some 65 million years ago. But in 1938, this ancient order of fish was rediscovered off the coast of South Africa. They’re among the oldest living jawed fish believed to exist, and serve as an example of a Lazarus Taxon (tax-ON) … an organism that disappears from the fossil record, only to later come back to life! They’re known to swim over 500 meters deep, grow to over six feet long, and weigh around 200 pounds! Did you know this creature first appeared in the fossil record some 400 million years ago?